Identifying Shadowing Signatures of C Ring Ringlets and Plateaus in Cassini Data from Saturn’s Ionosphere

Abstract

For orbits 288 and 292 of Cassini’s Grand Finale, clear dips (sharp and narrow decreases) are visible in the densities measured by the Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS). In 2017, the southern hemisphere of Saturn was shadowed by its rings and the substructures within. Tracing a path of the solar photons through the ring plane to Cassini’s position, we can identify regions in the ionosphere that were shadowed by the individual ringlets and plateaus (with increased optical depths) of Saturn’s C ring. The calculated shadowed altitudes along Cassini’s trajectory line up well with the dips in the data when adjusting the latter based on a detected evolving shift in the INMS timestamps since 2013, illustrating the potential for verification of instrument timings. We can further estimate the mean optical depths of the ringlets/plateaus by comparing the dips to inbound densities. Our results agree well with values derived from stellar occultation measurements. No clear dips are visible for orbits 283 and 287, whose periapsides were at higher altitudes. This can be attributed to the much longer chemical lifetime of at these higher altitudes, which in turn can be further used to estimate a lower limit for the flow speed along Cassini’s trajectory. The resulting estimate of ∼0.3 km s−1 at an altitude of ∼3400 km is in line with prior suggestions. Finally, the ringlet and plateau shadows are not associated with obvious dips in the electron density, which is expected due to their comparatively long chemical (recombination) lifetime.